Names of nearly all fatalities released in Metrolink crash

A construction worker guides cranes into place to remove the Union Pacific locomotive which crashed into a Metrolink commuter train on Friday in Chatsworth, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008. Los Angeles fire officials say at least 17 people have been killed in the collision. (AP Photo/ Rene Macura)

Names of nearly all of those who died in Friday's Metrolink crash have now been released. There have been 25 fatalities resulting from the crash, but many more people are still in critical condition at hospitals.

Many of the passengers were residents of Simi Valley and Moorpark on their way home from work in Los Angeles, and the community has begun to grieve.

Three men and one woman have not yet been named. Only one of the men has not been identified, the others are pending family notification.

Long was an English teacher at Oaks Christian High School. The headmaster of the school, Jeff Woodcock, confirmed that Long was taken off life support at around 12:30 p.m. at USC-County Medical Center. Long's wife and son were with him, and were hospitalized but not critically injured.

There are still critical patients in several area hospitals including four patients at USC-County Medical Center, four at UCLA Medical Center, five at Providence Holy Cross and three at Simi Valley Hospital. Man of the others who are hospitalized are considered in stable or fair condition.

Remata's body was among the first to be pulled from the train wreckage Friday but family members weren't notified until 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

"They took us to a room and said, 'Sit down.' And I saw the coroner's seal and I said, 'I don't like your jacket,"' said Remata's youngest sister, Debra Nieves. "They just confirmed what I knew."

Emergency workers identified Remata, 49, from her driver's license she carried in her pocket. "She never carried a purse," Nieves said.

Authorities said they have completed the search for victims in Chatsworth with a total of 24 people killed and injured about 135 others. A telephone survey of five hospitals earlier Saturday found nine of 34 patients still critical. Many were described as having crush injuries.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the search ended Saturday afternoon and no more bodies or survivors have been found.

Emergency crews have been at the scene for nearly 24 hours, digging through wreckage for signs of life.

Metrolink took full responsibility for the crash at a press conference Saturday afternoon. Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said that the engineer on the train has been identified as one of the dead. The conductor is among the injured.

"We do not believe Union Pacific is at any way at fault," she said.

Tyrrell said she wasn't sure if the engineer was supposed to stop the train or pull onto a siding in the area, but she confirmed that a Signal 2 was disregarded. The engineer is supposed to get verbal and visual signals at least 2/3 mile out. It takes 1/3 mile to stop the train.

"The signals are dramatic," she said.

The engineer, who was contracted to Metrolink through a company called Veolia Transport, was supposed to pull off to a spare track, but missed the visual signal, according to Tyrrell. Metrolink has been subcontracting with Veolia since 1998.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also spoke at the press conference. "It's one of the worst train accidents in modern history. Even though we've had this tragedy...trains are the safest way to travel."

Metrolink service could resume early in the week, potentially Tuesday or Wednesday, after track repairs are completed, he said.

Metrolink officials said they are planning to resume service between Chatsworth and Union Station in Los Angeles on Monday, but not by train.

They are working on a "bus bridge" to transport people.

Buses should be available at Metrolink stations in Moorpark and Simi Valley, but are not expected at any stations further inland, Moorpark City Councilman Keith Millhouse said.

"People north of Moorpark should plan to get to the Moorpark or Simi Valley stations, at least for that day or two," he said, adding that transportation officials are meeting Sunday to shore up the bus plan.

There are 14 NTSB board members working on the investigation, according to Kitty Higgins, a board member.

"We look at everything," she said, including the trains, track, signal, equipment, operations, and human performance.

From the crash, they recovered two data recorders from the Metrolink train; one data recorder and one video recorder from freight train.

"That will tell us a lot about what was going on." Data recorders get mechanical information like speed and if the train was braking. The video camera is pointed outside the train.

Three staff members were on the Union Pacific train, two staff on Metrolink. All survived except the Metrolink engineer.

"It's one of the worst that we've seen," Higgins said.

Metrolink announced its determination of the accident's probable cause before investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board, leaders of the probe, made any public statements about the crash.

"Even if the train is on the main track, it must go through a series of signals and each one of the signals must be obeyed," Tyrrell told reporters. "What we believe happened, barring any new information from the NTSB, is we believe that our engineer failed to stop ... and that was the cause of the accident.

"We don't know how the error happened," she continued, "but this is what we believe happened. We believe it was our engineer who failed to stop at the signal.

"When two trains are in the same place at the same time somebody's made a terrible mistake," she said.

Metrolink said it conducted its own investigation by looking at the dispatch and signal system and wanted to release its findings to the public as soon as possible.

The collision occurred on a horseshoe-shaped section of track in Chatsworth at the west end of the San Fernando Valley.

The crash forced the Metrolink engine well back into the first passenger car, and both toppled over. Two other passenger cars remained upright.

Mayor Villaraigosa has been seen at the crash site carrying two folded flags because he believes two city employees died in the crash.

It was the deadliest U.S. passenger train accident in 15 years; a 2005 Metrolink crash killed 11.